Middleeast

(Gaza-AlummahWorld 15 Oct 2014) United Nations Secretary General Ban Ki-moon briefly visiting Israel ravaged Gaza on Tuesday shocked to observe devastation he witnessed there. He was driven through the ruins of Gaza City’s Shejaiya neighbourhood and the nearby Jabaliya refugee camp, the scenes of some of the heaviest Israeli shelling and air strikes in summer which destroyed the houses, school, hospitals, daily suplies and displaced thousands of Palestinian during 50-day conflict. Gaza City`s Shujaiya neighborhood was most devastated area which turned to ruins. UN Secretary General Ban visited the devastated areas and met injured civilian including elders, children and women. He described the destruction in Gaza from the recent conflict with Israel as “beyond description” and a source of “shame to the international community”. Ban told reporters that the devastation he had seen was far worse than that caused in the previous Israel-Gaza conflict of winter 2008-2009. “The destruction which I have seen while coming to here is beyond description. This is a much more serious destruction than what I saw in 2009.

UN Secretary General visited a school in Jabaliya refugee camp, scenes of some of the heaviest Israeli shelling in horrific summer’s conflict.Two classrooms at the UN school were hit by shells, killing at least 14 people sheltering there. Relatives of the dead held up posters showing their loved ones, while waiting to catch a glimpse of the UN chief.“I met so many of the beautiful children of Gaza. More than 500 were killed in the fighting, many more were wounded. What did they do wrong? Being born in Gaza is not a crime.”“I’d like to take this opportunity to express my deepest condolences to people who lost their lives... and loved ones,” Ban said.

Speaking with journalists, Ban urged that those “who have committed criminal acts, those who have violated international humanitarian law must be investigated and brought to justice”.“As you know, the UN Human Rights Council has established a commission of inquiry, which is now investigating. Upon our strong urging the government of Israel has established their own independent, criminal investigations. I, as secretary general of the United Nations, am considering establishing my own board of inquiry to investigate the shelling of the UN facilities and killing of UN staff. With all these three commissions and boards of inquiry I am sure we will be able to find and bring justice.”

Earlier on Monday, Ban criticised Israel for its continued building of settlements on land the Palestinians seek for an independent state and urged both sides to return to meaningful negotiations as soon as possible. Secretary General Ban, who last visited the territory in 2012, said at a donor conference in Egypt on Sunday that his trip to the Palestinian enclave was “to listen directly to the people of Gaza”. At the Cairo conference, Ban said “the root causes of the recent hostilities” were “a restrictive occupation that has lasted almost half a century, the continued denial of Palestinian rights and the lack of tangible progress in peace negotiations”.